Puck Headlines: Miller defends Connolly; best Jack Edwards rants

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Here's Tim Thomas backstage at Wednesday night's ESPY Awards likely after pumping the tires of Jay Leno because really, who laughs at a Leno joke? [Getty]

BREAKING: The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that Patrick Kane will have surgery on his left wrist and will miss the next 6-8 weeks. He's expected to be fully healthy by training camp.

• After Tim Connolly was slagged in the Toronto Sun earlier this week, former teammates including Ryan Miller came to his aid telling James Mirtle, "I think some people in the media [in Buffalo] felt like he owed them explanations beyond what he cared to share, and it just became a little bit of a vendetta." [Globe & Mail]

• Big media news yesterday as it was announced that Pierre LeBrun would be taking his talents to TSN, while keeping his writing gig with ESPN.com. LeBrun will appear on TSN's various hockey programs and game broadcasts. This means CBC will need to fill a slot on the "Hot Stove" panel on Hockey Night in Canada. May we suggest our pal Elliotte Friedman on a full-time basis to bring a little sanity next to Eric Francis and Mike Milbury? [TSN]

• Lenders have given St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts an extension on a $120 million loan as he continues the search for a buyer. According to the extension, Checketts now has more than 60 days to finalize a sale, otherwise the team will go into default. [NY Post]

• The New Jersey Devils traded away Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond yesterday and filled that tough guy void by bringing Cam Janssen back to town. Janssen was originally drafted by New Jersey in 2002. [NJ.com]

• Lou Lamoriello announced during a conference call this morning that the team has signed 2011 first rounder Adam Larsson to a three-year contract for the rookie maximum of $925,000 a season. Per Tom Gulitti, the contract does not include performance bonuses. [Fire & Ice]

• Kings GM Dean Lombardi is still not happy about the fallout from the Ryan Smyth-to-Edmonton trade and is still talking about it: "This is twice. There comes a point where you say, `This is wrong.' I think it's a fairly easy thing to work through. … We want to save the spirit of the trade, although I did have a team call me today, saying that if it's not going through, they would take (Smyth), but that's not the purpose. It's, let's try to work this out the way we understood it at the time we did it." [LA Kings Insider]

• After some unflattering Tweets about his new team during the playoffs were publicized, newest Vancouver Canucks forward Mike Duco has deleted his Twitter account. That didn't sit too well with Anthony Stewart of the Carolina Hurricanes who's been running an "I'd rather...#PassItToBulis" campaign on his own feed today blaming the Pass It To Bulis Boys for running Duco offline. Hey, he and Dan Ellis should team up! [PITB]

• The Hockey News ranks the top five teams that haven't done much to improve themselves this summer. [THN]

• Your top 10 Jack Edwards rants of all-time. Picking our favorite Edwards moment is like choosing our favorite child, there's so many. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]

• The Florida Panthers have finally come to terms with their 2010 first round pick Erik Gudbranson on a three-year deal. [Panthers]

• Frank Rekas on why Gudbranson's signing should have Panthers fans jumping for joy. [The Rat Trick]

• Michael Frolik and Sami Lepisto are off the market as the pair have signed separate deals with the Chicago Blackhawks. Frolik will make $7 million over the next three seasons, while Lepisto inked a one-year deal. So bye bye Chris Campoli then? [ESPN Chicago]

• Brian Boyle will go from making $524,000 last season in New York to now $1.7 million for the next three seasons after re-signing with the New York Rangers yesterday. Next up for Glen Sather: Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan. [Rangers]

• Chris Osgood's future in Detroit will be determined sometime next week according to Red Wings GM Ken Holland. Ozzie's health will play a big role if he's brought back or someone like Ty Conklin, whom Holland has spoken with, will be signed as Jimmy Howard's backup. [MLive]

• Good stuff from Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill on the team's development camp this week, up-and-coming players and the new additions to the roster. [The Malik Report]

• The last two winners of the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year -- Dan Bylsma of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Dave Tippett of the Phoenix Coyotes -- will be in charge when the 2011 NHL Research Development and Orientation Camp is held Aug. 17-18 at the MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence, in Etobicoke, Ont. [NHL]

• JJ with a plea to Tampa Bay Lightning fans to calm down about the on-going Steven Stamkos talks. [Beasts of the Southeast]

• With plenty of money left to spend including Shea Weber's new deal, are the Nashville Predators primed to make a big move? [Smashville 24/7]

• Remember when the Sprint Center in Kansas City was looking for a full-time tenant? Five years after opening, they're still looking. [PHT]

• Finally, via our pal Sean Hartnett comes the trailer for what appears to be the Punjabi version of The Mighty Ducks featuring Ryan Miller's fiancee Noureen DeWulf and the immortal Chris Traeger, or Rob Lowe as you might know him: